JK-P1 - Student Conduct

The Prairie Spirit School Division (PSSD) is committed to cultivating a safe, caring, healthy, and inclusive learning environment that supports the full potential of every student.

This policy is grounded in a strengths-based philosophy. We view challenging behaviour not as a failure, but as a communication of an unmet need or a gap in learned skills. Our focus is on teaching, supporting, and building on each student's existing assets, skills, and positive attributes to foster self-regulation, responsibility, and successful lifelong learning.

We embrace Manitoba's Philosophy of Inclusion, which states:

• Inclusion is a way of thinking and acting that allows every individual to feel accepted, valued, and safe.

• An inclusive community consciously evolves to meet the changing needs of its members.

• Through recognition and support, an inclusive community provides meaningful involvement and equal access to the benefits of citizenship.

Our approach to student conduct, intervention, and support is guided by the following principles and required alignments:

• Keep Students at the Centre: Students are kept at the centre of all planning and decisions. We must respect the right and access to education for children and youth.

• Dignity and Respect: Any behaviour intervention, response, or consequence must be administered in a manner consistent with respecting the student's human dignity and promoting self-esteem.

• Informed by Best Practices: We will establish behaviour interventions, responses, and consequences that are informed by research and best practices.

Our policies and procedures align with the Standards for Appropriate Educational Programming in Manitoba, Mamahtawisiwin: The Wonder We Are Born With—An Indigenous Education Policy Framework, and the school/school division's respect for human diversity policy.

All members of the PSSD community are expected to contribute to a positive and successful learning environment. We expect that students will:

The following actions cause harm, disrupt the learning environment, and necessitate supportive intervention and firm consequences:

Intervention & Disciplinary Actions

The Principal has disciplinary authority over the conduct of each pupil of the school from the time the pupil arrives at school until the pupil departs for the day, except during any period that the pupil is absent from school at the request of his or her parent or guardian. The Principal has disciplinary authority over all pupils of the school on their way to and from school, in terms of their conduct towards one another, and while they are being conveyed to or from school, in a division or district that provides transportation.

[M.R. 468/88 (33)]  (See also EON-P0 & EON-P1)

Every Teacher “shall maintain order and discipline in the school.” [PSA 96(1)(c)]

Parents/guardians have a right “to be informed of the discipline and behaviour management policies of the school or School Division, and to be consulted before the policies are established or revised.” [PSA 58.6(e)]

All schools are expected to engage in preventative practices, focusing on instruction and sustained school-wide programs. These approaches should be trauma-informed, culturally responsive, related to social emotional learning (SEL), and rooted in restitution.

Student-Centred Intervention Strategies

The principal maintains the authority to determine the appropriate intervention, considering the frequency/severity of the non-observance, the student’s age, maturity, state of development, and social-emotional and mental wellness. Reasonable accommodation is required for students with diverse needs that affect their behaviour.

Interventions emphasize positive and proactive strategies that foster student learning and include:

Duty to Notify Parents/Caregivers

The Principal must promptly notify the parent/guardian when a student has been harmed because of another’s behaviour. The notification must include the nature of the behaviour, the nature of the harm, and the steps taken to protect student safety.

Discretion must be exercised to protect students who are part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community from harm in disclosing their gender identity or sexual orientation to parents/caregivers. The information shared regarding the actions taken must be limited to what is necessary, while protecting the student’s personal information.